Under the torment of that brilliant idea, Avada successfully broke the healer's orders on the very first day after being discharged—by barely getting any sleep at all.
Fortunately, his discharge happened to fall on a weekend. Otherwise, he truly couldn't guarantee that Snape would show any mercy just because he had only just left the hospital wing.
So early the next morning, he forced himself up, went to the washroom to splash some water on his face, then immediately tucked away the box worth over thirty Galleons and headed straight for the Room of Requirement on the eighth floor. Along the way, he kept his magical senses fully alert, scanning his surroundings in hopes of finding the culprit behind the recent attacks—
Unfortunately, he found nothing at all. Whether that counted as good luck or bad luck was hard to say.
After pacing back and forth three times in front of the wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by a troll, the long-familiar door of the Room of Requirement was once again summoned by Avada.
Last term, he had barely come here at all while focusing on dealing with Voldemort. Coupled with the entire summer break in between, even the sight of the door now felt a little unfamiliar. Avada glanced around, pushed the door open, and stepped inside—
Still the same "room where things are hidden."
This time, he planned to retrieve Ravenclaw's diadem as well, so he wouldn't have to keep worrying about it.
"Mm, it doesn't look like it's been touched… seems Voldemort didn't suddenly feel nostalgic and come back here last year."
Seeing the diadem of Ravenclaw sitting exactly where he had restored it, with not the slightest change in the Horcrux magic attached to it, Avada finally let out a sigh of relief. He put the diadem away, then took out the box, found a table, and sat down, ready to begin his research.
And then—
Rip—bang!
"Hiss… ohhh…"
Avada clutched the back of his hand, which had slipped while tearing off the tape and slammed straight into the corner of the table. He sucked in a sharp breath from the pain.
"As expected of magical adhesive tape that can stick to a wand… even with a dedicated counter-curse, it's still this hard to tear off…"
Awkwardly holding his wand in his left hand, he cast Reparo on the back of his hand. Only then did he continue, alternating between the counter-curse and using his fingernails to slowly pry the tape loose, bit by bit. It took who knew how long before he finally peeled off all three full layers of tape.
"Phew…"
He shook his slightly numb hand, then opened the lid of the box and began observing, without any interference, the Resurrection Stone lying quietly inside—
"As expected! My guess was right!"
From Avada's perspective, there were indeed patterns within the Resurrection Stone that closely resembled those of a soul—yet were clearly distinct from it!
And those magical structures that had originally looked chaotic and disorderly suddenly became orderly, precise, and aesthetically pleasing in another dimension once this new perspective was introduced.
"The Deathly Hallows really do involve the secrets of the soul…"
He couldn't help but marvel inwardly. "So over a thousand years ago, the Peverell brothers had already grasped the mysteries of the soul's essence—and were even able to make use of it to some extent?"
"But if they truly reached such a terrifying level, how did they die? Even the most basic Horcrux magic can prevent death by natural causes—so how could they have died? And if they were murdered… who could possibly have killed three such powerful and fearsome wizards?"
"Where did their research results come from? Could it have been like those Dark Wizards described in Professor Bock's book—obtained through indiscriminate slaughter? Or did they possess talents similar to mine, allowing them to perceive souls and magic?"
"And if the Peverell brothers were that powerful… why were their descendants so destitute? They should have passed down their research results. Otherwise, the Gaunt family and the Potter family wouldn't have ended up holding the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak…"
"Salazar Slytherin was able to inscribe Parseltongue directly into the soul—could that also be because he inherited their research?"
In an instant, countless questions flooded his mind, leaving him both mentally aching and filled with awe at just how ancient and mysterious the magical world truly was.
Moreover, Parseltongue and the Deathly Hallows had also confirmed something for him—
That the soul, just like magic and mental energy, could be artificially edited, modified, and even treated purely as a material to be used.
"Honestly… that's terrifying."
Avada lowered his head to look at the Resurrection Stone in his hand, his gaze complicated. "You really did give me quite the surprise."
"A living being's true self, kneaded and reshaped like a lump of clay at will…"
"…Should I really continue down this path?"
He sighed, closed the Resurrection Stone back into the box, and once again wrapped it in three full layers of tape.
Whether or not he ultimately chose to pursue this line of research, the fact remained that he currently understood absolutely nothing about the structure of the soul's essence. Gaining insight by slowly observing and summarizing patterns would be an unimaginably long process. Thinking about it now would only add to his worries—it was far better to focus on the recent coma incidents…
"Alright then. More useless knowledge acquired."
He rubbed his face, forced an ugly smile, and then put both the box and Ravenclaw's diadem away separately. He had no intention of storing the diadem together with the Resurrection Stone—who knew what might happen if two Horcruxes were kept together all the time?
While the odds were that nothing would happen, he still preferred to avoid unnecessary risks.
After all, the diadem wouldn't act on its own, didn't carry any bizarre curses, and likely didn't possess independent consciousness like the diary. Keeping it in his pocket should be fine.
"Worst case, I'll just spend another thirty Galleons on a box later."
Thinking that, Avada pushed open the door of the Room of Requirement—
And was nearly scared out of his skin by the furious roar coming through the crack in the door.
"It's been over a month, Dumbledore! More than a month!!"
A deep male voice was roaring at the top of his lungs.
"Students have been falling into comas since the very start of term, and now an entire month has passed! And all you can do is make them open their eyes for ten minutes a day?! That's not even enough time to go to the toilet!"
"Do you have any idea what things are like outside right now?! I—and all the other governors—receive more than a dozen letters from parents every single day! For all we know, a Howler might be next—one of those 'pleasant surprises' that can scare someone into a heart attack! I swear I've aged ten years in just this short time, let alone my poor daughter!!"
"Please, calm yourself, Mr. Parkinson…"
Dumbledore's voice drifted over from deeper in the corridor. Avada quickly peeked out, confirmed that the conversation wasn't happening in his section of the hallway, then slipped out, closed the door behind him, letting the Room vanish back into the wall. He cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself and continued listening in.
"Calm down?! What good does that do?! Can it reassure the outside world?! Can it make those students better?! Can it make Pansy better?!"
"I assure you, Mr. Parkinson, we are already doing everything we can to develop a potion. Professor Snape has told me that there will be results within this month…"
"Ha! Right! Results! And then what—have the students drink potions while they're still unconscious?! Are you running a school, or a potion shop?!"
"At this rate, I'll have to send Pansy to St. Mungo's—and I might even need to consider transferring her to Ilvermorny!"
"..."
"...We are very disappointed in you, Dumbledore."
After a moment of silence, the man finally stopped shouting, though the suppressed fury in his voice was still unmistakable.
"I'm here today not just for Pansy, but on behalf of the entire Board of Governors."
"The Board will be establishing a special investigation team to take over this matter. We will hire the best defensive magic masters and the most professional curse-breakers to investigate the incident. There will also be governors personally present to supervise the process. We must give the public an explanation…"
"As for you? You can just sit in that absurd office of yours and write letters to parents every day!"
(End of Chapter)